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F. Driehuis1, E.J. van Overmeeren1, T. Verboom1
1Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy (KNGF), Amersfoort, Netherlands
Background: Growing evidence on physiotherapy underpins its added value to the healthcare continuum for patients with various conditions. Among other healthcare professionals, such as general practitioners, physicians and allied healthcare professionals, the acknowledgement of the added value of physiotherapy in the patient’s healthcare process is increasing.
As a result, the importance, relevance and need for including and involving physiotherapy in the healthcare process are described in an increasing amount of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) that recommend on interdisciplinary and patient-centered healthcare. CPGs aim to improve the quality of patient care by combining scientific evidence with expert opinion, clinical expertise, and patient preferences. CPGs provide healthcare professionals with up-to-date knowledge, considerations from a clinical expert perspective and specific recommendations for clinical practice. To improve the position of physiotherapists in healthcare and show their added value, tailored implementation is needed.
As a result, the importance, relevance and need for including and involving physiotherapy in the healthcare process are described in an increasing amount of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) that recommend on interdisciplinary and patient-centered healthcare. CPGs aim to improve the quality of patient care by combining scientific evidence with expert opinion, clinical expertise, and patient preferences. CPGs provide healthcare professionals with up-to-date knowledge, considerations from a clinical expert perspective and specific recommendations for clinical practice. To improve the position of physiotherapists in healthcare and show their added value, tailored implementation is needed.
Purpose: To increase knowledge on the added value of physiotherapy in interdisciplinary healthcare among physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals.
Methods: Interdisciplinary CPGs are initiated by organisations of other healthcare professionals, such as national associations of general practitioners or physicians. For every CPG, a working group with representatives of various healthcare professionals is formed. In 2020 KNGF participated actively in >100 of these working groups and developmentary processes of interdisciplinary CPGs. By this KNGF represents physiotherapy in Dutch patient care and aims to increase knowledge on the added value of physiotherapy among other healthcare professionals. In all the CPGs KNGF participates, physiotherapy is being described as a treatment approach with added value to patient care.
To inform and educate physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals on physiotherapy’s value to interdisciplinary healthcare, and thereby increase guideline adherence, various implementation strategies and activities are being used.
To inform and educate physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals on physiotherapy’s value to interdisciplinary healthcare, and thereby increase guideline adherence, various implementation strategies and activities are being used.
Results: To illustrate how KNGF implements CPGs, the implementation of the CPG ‘Anterior cruciate ligament injury’ is being presented as a best practice example. This particular CPG underlines the importance of physiotherapy in patients with an injury of their anterior cruciate ligament. Patients with this injury usually start their healthcare journey by consulting a general practitioner, orthopedic surgeon, or physiotherapist. For the delivery of care in accordance with the CPG, it is important that these professionals know what the recommendations regarding diagnostic and treatment options are, and which healthcare professionals should be involved or consulted and in which phase of the injury. Only then consistent and patient-centered healthcare can be delivered. Therefore, we developed an interdisciplinary factsheet of the patient journey, including the role of each professional during each phase of the patient’s journey, from diagnosis to rehabilitation. Subsequently, we developed educational activities where a physiotherapist together with an orthopedic surgeon informed physiotherapists and shared knowledge on diagnostic and treatment recommendations according to the CPG.
Conclusion(s): Development and tailored implementation of interdisciplinary CPGs, focusing on both physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals, increases the knowledge about physiotherapy’s added value in patients with various conditions and thereby improves the position of physiotherapy in interdisciplinary healthcare.
Implications: KNGF aims at implementing all CPGs with relevance for and added value to Physiotherapists in interdisciplinary healthcare.
Funding, acknowledgements: No funding.
Keywords: Clinical practice guideline, Implementation, Value-based healthcare
Topic: Professional issues
Did this work require ethics approval? No
Institution: N/A
Committee: N/A
Reason: The abstract describes an implementation method of clinical practice guidelines among physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
